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Healing The Natural Way

By Annette Codding

    I know I am always going on about how nature is amazing, but it really is. It's amazing to me how there are so many plants that have medicinal properties that outshine anything you can buy at the store. Many of these plants are also versatile. They might do two or three totally different things in your body, whereas the stuff from the store does one thing and has a slew of adverse side effects.
    A few weekends back, I was cutting up bacon to fry up with some cabbage and onions and took off the tip of my finger. If I was using my chef knife, I probably would have just cut in a little, but instead I had grabbed one of our filet knives that Brian keeps pretty sharp. Yep, it was pretty darn sharp. Sliced a hunk right off before I even reacted.
    We had a pile of people over for a family gathering, so I had to wrap it up and keep cooking. It bled like a stuck pig if I didn’t keep good pressure on it. I just kept changing out paper towels and band-aids. Four hours later when everyone was gone and I was ready for bed, it was still dripping steady. I decided that I had to find something to stop the bleeding.
    My herbal books would tell me, but it was late and I needed a faster answer, so I went outside to get an internet signal on my phone. Search "how to stop…" and it will fill in the blank with "a bleeding finger". Is my phone really listening to me or do that many people cut their finger? Hmmm…probably both. Common sense answers is all it gave me, so I had to add "herbal remedy" to the search.
    There it is…yarrow! I had completely forgotten about this plant, even though I have used it several times in the past for its antiseptic properties. But it is also a great blood stop. First, I grabbed my yarrow tincture. Remember that a tincture is an alcohol base. I dripped a couple drops on there and it was like fire touching the open wound! Not a good idea and it did nothing for the bleeding.
    Dried yarrow was the next option. I found a jar on the shelf with the long feathery, crispy dry leaves. When alive and growing, this plant is super soft and looks like a finely textured fern or green feather-like plant. When dry it crumbles easily into tiny pieces. I crushed up a little and put it straight on the open area and covered it with a paper towel and held pressure on it.
    Ten minutes later I was ready to get a shower and I gingerly removed the paper towel, halfway expecting the thing to start dripping again. Nope, not even one tiny bit and none at all on the paper towel that had been wrapped around it. You might be thinking that by this time it would naturally have stopped, but it hadn’t even bled through the yarrow. Absolutely amazing!
    The other amazing thing is what happened to the whole thing when I took a shower. Nothing. It didn't wash away or fall off. It was as if the yarrow fused with the white blood cells and created a grassy-looking scab. I was completely amazed that this plant really worked as well as it did and I could get a good night's sleep without worrying about my finger bleeding.
    For the next several days, I simply put a bandaid over the wound first thing in the morning. It never bled even one more time, and the yarrow just sort of flaked off after a couple of days. No antibiotic ointment, no healing cream, just washing it like normal when I washed my hands. It is almost healed up all the way now…all with just using some herbs and letting nature work.
    Another favorite plant that I use often when I am working in the garden is plantain. Plantago major is a native herb that grows all over the place this time of year. I have a pile of the weedy type growing all around my garden. Which is really nice because unfortunately I have ants too and plantain works wonders on an ant bite.
    Do you know how ant bites get that little nasty head on them a day or two after the bite? Then they itch and hurt as they heal over the next few days? Well, a simple poultice put on a bite, soon after it occurred will take the itching and stinging out within a couple of minutes and there will be no sign of the bite after that.
    To make a quick poultice, pull off a leaf and chew it for just a few seconds to break it up and make it juicy. Then apply it to the bite or sting. This is a spit poultice. The taste is pretty bitter, but it probably won’t hurt you and you will find great relief from the bite. You can also just crush up some leaves between a couple of rocks, but rocks aren’t always handy and your teeth are.
    Bidens alba is another really common plant that grows all over. This is the pretty little white flower that bees love and most people hate. It’s aggravating because of its invasive nature and the little black seeds that stick to everything. But it has enough good uses that we should be a little more tolerant of it.
    The leaves are actually edible. You can eat a small amount raw, or a large amount if you cook and rinse them thoroughly. Bidens has antiseptic properties, so a strong tea made with the leaves makes a good antiseptic wash. I used a mixture of Bidens and Yarrow for a bad dog bite a few years back and it cleaned it really well.
    The nice part about all of these plants is that they are almost always available when we need them. The plantain is growing at the same time as stinging nettle. Next time you get into some fireweed or stinging nettle, find some plantain and use it. The sting goes away within a few minutes and you won't even feel it the next day.
    You can purchase yarrow at Momma G Farms in Eustis. Once you get a patch established, it will just keep spreading and will always be there. The winter doesn’t affect it one bit. Or go ahead and pick some and dry it out and keep it in a jar in the house. It would be nice to have on hand instead of running to the garden when someone needs it.
    Spring is a great time to get outside and learn about the things growing around us. The woods and our yards are full of unassuming “weeds” that have amazing uses. There is even a fair amount of food out there! Smilax is growing, so it’s time to pick a bunch for dinner. Until next time, get outside and explore this wonderful world.